Grade Crossing Analysis with GradeDec DC

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THE NEED

Rank and prioritize, allocate resources for grade crossing improvements based on economic criteria.

High-risk crossings often merits the most attention in a given study area, but where and how investment dollars should be spent to realize a maximum return is frequently overlooked.

THE CHALLENGE

Operational and economic analysis that provides informed decision support for grade crossing improvements.

Studies with other tools for grade crossing improvements examine the physical characteristics of crossings and, perhaps, the potential for mitigating accident risk. What these studies don’t provide is a full array of benefits from the improvements, including congestion relief -- or convince decision makers and stakeholders that the study findings represent the best alternative for investing in grade crossing upgrades.

GradeDec was developed for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

DECISIONTEK SOLUTION

Develop a decision support tool to evaluate the impacts from grade crossing improvements while meeting federal requirements for the benefit-cost analysis of investments in infrastructure. 

Designed and under development by Decisiontek since 2003, GradeDec DC is an online tool for grade crossing benefit-cost analysis and is available to all levels of government, the railroad industry and their consultants.

With GradeDec DC your decisions embrace the full array of benefits from crossing improvements.

About GradeDec DC

GradeDec DC is designed to evaluate the impacts from grade crossing improvements and meet federal requirements for the benefit-cost analysis of investments in infrastructure. Whether your study includes several or several hundred grade crossings, Decisiontek's impact analysis used with conjunction with GradeDec DC will help you develop the best package of improvements serving your corridor or region. Access GradeDec DC here

Spend investment dollars to yield their highest return.
To find the high yield alternative, the analysis considers traffic flows and composition by highway and rail, growth in traffic over a specified time horizon, the physical characteristics of the crossings and price information. 

Algorithms in GradeDec DC calculate the effects of the improvements, incorporating recent research findings relating safety to crossing improvements. The analysis includes sets of tables and graphs that rank crossing improvements and provide quick indicators for high yield investments. The impact analysis also evaluates shifts in traffic flows in a corridor due to grade separations and closures. The analysis considers the cost side as well and provides summary measures of costs and benefits.

Over 1200 registered users have conducted analyses using GradeDec DC supporting grade crossing improvement decisions in over 35 states and dozens of MPOs.

Beyond safety, consider ALL the key benefits of impact analysis

While safety is the top concern when analyzing the impacts of crossing improvements, a comprehensive view of impacts also includes the effects of closings and separations on queuing at crossings and impacts on the highway network. The effects of reduced queuing include travel time savings and reductions in highway vehicle operating costs and emissions.

Risk analysis features

Risk analysis is a proven management technique for enhancing decision support forecasts. GradeDec DC is fully risk analysis enabled.

Analyses with GradeDec DC provide probability distributions and sets of charts and reports that quantify the impacts of uncertainty on outcomes. These enable an analysis of risk/yield trade-offs and further ensure that all the relevant dimensions of your resource allocation decision have been accounted for.

Integration with existing databases

With GradeDec DC you can take advantage of existing data in the National Grade Crossing Inventory, thus precluding the need for extensive data collection.

Let Decisiontek conduct your next impact analysis

We designed and built GradeDec DC based on expertise spanning multiple domains including; economics, operations research and transportation planning and policy. Decisiontek has developed analytic tools and conducted studies for economic, market and regulatory analysis for more than 20 years. With Decisiontek you avoid expensive start up and learning curve costs -- and you have the assurance that the system is applied correctly to your study. We offer both as-is and custom configurations.